Top 5 Phones to Consider Before Buying the iPhone 5 [July, 2014]

Before you take advantage of that iPhone 5 deal and take the plunge with a device that’s going on two years old, you’ll want to investigate some other options, five to be exact. Here, we take a look at five phone we think consumers need to consider before picking up Apple’s aging former flagship, iPhone 5.

Advertisement

In 2012, Apple took the stage and announced one of its most impressive smartphones of all time. The iPhone 5 was announced with a number of impressive specifications including a 4-inch Retina Display, 4G LTE data speeds, Lightning dock standard, and an all new aluminum design that put the iPhone 4s’ design to shame. That was nearly two years ago.

In 2014, the iPhone 5 is no longer on sale through the Apple Store though it’s still on sale through other retailers, retailers like eBay and AT&T, both of which are currently playing host to iPhone 5 deals. Those deals, combined with an imminent iOS 8 update, keep the iPhone 5 afloat just about two years after its release. We don’t recommend it, but it’s certainly a budget option that’s worth considering.

We are constantly bombarded with questions about which phones to buy. In particular, we’re constantly asked about the phones consumers should weigh against the iPhone 5. There are a number of different devices that we could recommend, the smartphone market is full of solid choices, but we want to narrow things down a bit and take a look at what we consider to be the top five.

Advertisement

These devices represent the devices that we’d recommend to friends and family. And while our list may differ from yours, these are the devices that Gotta Be Mobile editors have selected for recognition this month. We feel like the devices listed here deliver the best, all-around package for this month and this month alone.

Advertisement

That said, here are the top five smartphones to consider before buying the iPhone 5.

iPhone 5s

1 / 5

Yes, you need to take a look at the current iPhone flagship, the iPhone 5s, before buying the iPhone 5. The iPhone 5s features the same design and 4-inch Retina Display but it trumps the iPhone 5 in just about every other way.

It has a better camera, an improved A7 64-bit processor with M7 co-processor, Touch ID for added security, and some software features that simply did not come to the iPhone 5. It's one of the best smartphones available and now that it's older, we're starting to see some solid deals emerge.

Do yourself a favor and rule this phone out before buying a smartphone that's nearly two years old. The iPhone 5s is a better phone and it's going to live a much longer life.